A Zinc–Bromine Battery with Deep Eutectic Electrolytes

Abstract

Abstract A deep eutectic solvent (DES) is an ionic liquid‐analog electrolyte, newly emerging due to its low cost, easy preparation, and tunable properties. Herein, a zinc–bromine battery (ZBB) with a Zn‐halide‐based DES electrolyte prepared by mixing ZnBr2, ZnCl2, and a bromine‐capturing agent is reported. The water‐free DES electrolyte allows a closed‐cell configuration for the ZBB owing to the prevention of Br2 evaporation and H2 evolution. It is found that the Cl− anion changes the structure of the zinc‐halide complex anions and demonstrated that it improves the ion mobility and electrode reaction kinetics. The DES electrolyte with the optimized ZnCl2 composition shows much higher rate capability and a cycle life 90 times longer than that of a ZnCl2‐free DES electrolyte. A pouch‐type flexible ZBB battery based on the DES electrolyte exhibits swelling‐free operation for more than 120 cycles and stable operation under a folding test, suggesting its potential in consumer applications such as wearable electronics.

Keywords

• anode‐less system
• deep eutectic electrolytes
• flexible pouch cell
• halogen chemistry
• Zn–Br batteries